Dan Phillips: Building homes with 70-80% reclaimed materials.

  
   
   
 


This is Dan Phillips, a wonderfully creative thinker and, it has to be said, a bit of a philosopher. He enjoys explaining the traps we fall into when we build our homes. Although Dan's homes are not always naturally built he does build homes using around 70-80% reclaimed materials and includes some ingenious ideas that can make a home more affordable, like his wooden 2x4" bath tub (below) featured in this TED Talk. 

     
       

Dan makes do with the things others throw away and uses clever tricks by repeating patterns to satisfy our need for predictability in the spaces we live in. But Dan has little sympathy for those who insist on perfection, "Looking up you see there are bulges and pokes and sags and so forth... Well if that ruins your life, well then you shouldn't live there".

  
   

Wooden tub made from 2x4 scrap
 

Kitchen work surface from cords
 

Half-open door with bottle ends